The St. Petersburg City Council met on September 14, 2023, starting at approximately 6:30 p.m. and recessing for a public hearing on the FY2024 budget at 6:00 p.m. The meeting included proclamations, first readings of two ordinances, a resolution supporting the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, fiscal policy updates, and the first public hearing on the proposed millage rate and budget. Council voted to approve most agenda items, with notable dissents on the minority- and women-owned business enterprise ordinance and the millage rate.
The second and final public hearing on the FY2024 budget is scheduled for September 28, 2023, at 6:00 p.m.
Welcome to the City of St. Petersburg City Council meeting. Your elected officials are Mayor Ken Welch. District 1, Copley Girdis. District 2. And Council Chair, Brandy Gabbard. District 3, Edmonton Mary. District 4, Lissette Hanowitz. District 5. And Council Vice Chair, Deborah Fig Sanders. District 6, Gina Driscoll. District 7, John Mohammed. And District 8, Richie Floyd. Well, good afternoon, everyone. We will call to order the September 14th, 2023 City Council meeting, beginning with a roll call. Curtis. Here, Abbott. Here. Montaneri. Here. Anowitz. Here. Sanders. Here. Here. Mohammed. Here. Glow. All right. We will have our invocation by Rabbi Philip Weintraub from the Congregation Binaya Srell of St. Petersburg. Following that, uh, we will do the pledge allegiance. So please join us in standing. So before we begin, I want to offer my thanks to the council for the invoc for the invitation for the invocation. It's a blessing to be here. Um, I also want to offer my appreciation and thanks to the St. Petersburg Police Department this week for their responding so promptly to a hateful bomb threat that our congregation had this week. They were professional, they were compassionate, and they were extremely thorough. And I, in a stressful situation, knowing you are in good hands makes all the difference. So thank you very much. While I'm disgusted at the hate that led to the false threat, I'm grateful to know we live in a community where we care for one another. Tomorrow night begins the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. It's a time when we believe that the Holy One looks at our actions, the choices that we've made over courts of the year and sits in judgment. And it's a time where we sit in judgment to ourselves, not on others, where we look at our actions, our choices, how we treated others, and ask what did we do right and what can we do better. You know, we live in this world that is filled with blessing, but too far too often we see the hatred and the violence and the loss, but every single one of us has the opportunity to reduce that harm and increase the love. Each of us has the opportunity to shove show love, not hate, and each of us can make a difference in the lives of ourselves and all of those around us. Since the time of the Bible, Jews have been the canary in the coal mine. When Jews are hated, others are persecuted not long thereafter. For many years in this country, anti-Semitism was overt and open. And we felt blessed for many years that it seemed like it had retreated into a dark closet.